Computers are vulnerable devices and can often seem to screw up by themselves, but user error is a huge problem causer. There might be things you aren’t aware of being potential hazards and that ignorance could end up wrecking your system.

Don’t fear because we’ve rounded up some of the top computer accidents that can have disastrous consequences. The great thing is that they’re all easy to prevent, providing you take action and abide by the advice.

Of course, these aren’t all the accidents that can occur, so be sure to head into the comments section afterwards to share your own advice with us all. You never know, it might end up saving a computer!

Disconnect During a Lightning Storm

Everyone should invest in a surge protectorDo You Really Need a Surge Protector?Do You Really Need a Surge Protector?A surge protector is not the same thing as a power strip! Here's how they're different and why you need surge protectors instead, as well as how to choose a good one.Read More. They are a cheap and useful way to protect your electrical devices from voltage spikes. Simply put, a sudden and drastic change in the power being sent to your devices can damage the components inside. A surge protector will, as the name suggests, block or short to ground any voltage amount that threatens.

However, they aren’t fool-proof. Although they can usually successfully guard you against use of high-power electrical devices within the same system, or against a power cutThe Effects Power Outages Can Have On Your ComputerThe Effects Power Outages Can Have On Your ComputerDo you unplug your computer during severe storms? If not, you may want to start.Read More, they aren’t so good when a lightning storm hits. If lightning hits near a power line or your house, then it can cause the electrical pressure to increase by a million volts. If your computer is plugged in, a surge protector isn’t going to be able to cope with that.

Okay, so the chances of it actually happening are relatively slim, but not non-existent. This isn’t something you want to be taking risks with, especially considering the cost of replacing the damaged equipment. As such, the cheapest and most secure way of protecting yourself during a lightning storm is to turn off and unplug your equipment. It’s not enough to just power down – you need to pull the plug, too.

Laptop Overheats in a Confined Space

Some laptops can get hot at the best of times, let alone when in a confined space. Theoretically, a thermal shutdown circuit should shut everything down if the system is becoming dangerously hot, but it’s never safe to rely on that. If you finish with your laptop, put it to sleep and then leave it somewhere enclosed (like in a laptop bag), it might be time to reconsider.

Instead, it’s advisable to shut down your laptop entirely if you’re going to leave it somewhere where it can’t ventilate properly. There have been horror stories of components melting due to the heat. Unless you’re going to be installing a sprinkler right above the laptop, just turn it off completely.

If the platter gets damaged in any way, there’ll be a major risk of data loss. It’s where your data is kept and if it gets damaged then there’s no way that the head can access it. If you consider that dust landing on the platter can potentially cause harm, which is why you should never open up your drive in anywhere but a specialised clean room, imagine what would happen if the head collides with it.

As such, you need to be ultra careful not to drop a hard drive, especially if it’s an external one that’s constantly on the move. It might sound obvious, but although something like a smartphone can survive a drop, the chances are less likely on a hard drive. It’s always important to ensure you have a backup of your dataDisaster-Proof Your Data! 4 Offsite Backup SolutionsDisaster-Proof Your Data! 4 Offsite Backup SolutionsLaptops, desktops and tablets are ultimately trivial items that can be replaced and hold little value, but the same might not be true of the data they contain. Losing a project you’ve worked years on...Read More and this is just another reason to show why.

Using Aggressive Disk Cleaners

We all like to keep our systems running smoothly. It’s satisfying to make a change that makes your computer run that bit quicker or to clean out your hard drive to free up a bunch of space. But you need to be very careful when using disk cleaner tools because if you’re too aggressive with them, you could end up causing more harm than good.

Help Prevent an Accident

A power surge, a dropped hard drive, an over-cleaned computer… all of these and more are accidents waiting to happen, but hopefully you’ve now been successfully informed and can ensure they don’t happen to you.

But there are many more accidents out there waiting to happen! We can’t cover our computers in bubble wrap and call it a day – systems are prone to breaking and there’s so many opportunities for things to go awry. To that end, please share your own advice in the comments.

Have you ever suffered from any of these accidents? What advice can you give that might help save someone’s system?

I like the comment about UPS. They are great at protecting from low voltage or power loss, but their surge protection is minimal. Always use a good quality surge protector and plug the UPS into that and the computer into the UPS.

Search for a website Do NOT type it in the address bar, misspellings or typos can lead to you to a lot of bad websites, especially when using Internet Explorer. Most popular sites have a proper redirect, if for example you type gooogle.com or anazon.com they'll direct you to there proper site.

Make sure that the link goes to the proper site. It is not uncommon for a frequent typo to have a website at that address that will take you somewhere else, usually loaded with links to related sites but sprinkled with lots of malware. I think it is actually safer to type the actual address wanted. If you've been there before and it is still in the browser history, most browsers will show you an autocomplete selection; or use your browsers bookmarks to access frequently used sites.

Don't bother with surge protectors, invest a bit more and get an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS). Power goes into a (replaceable) battery and the computer draws its power from the battery. This prevents surges and also brownouts (insufficient voltage) from affecting the computer. You can also use the battery to charge your electronics during a blackout. I'd also recommend them for your big screen TVs.